Page 90 of The Masks We Wear

His words swirl in my chest before blooming on my cheeks. “You are many things, Spencer Hanes, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

I reach up, kissing him on the edge of his mouth. His hand snakes around my back, holding me in place so he can admire me up close. He lowers his voice to a whisper. “As long as one of those things is being yours, I’m happy.”

“Bet your ass you are.”

He laughs through his nose before releasing me and digging into his pocket. “I got you something. I wanted to give this to you our freshman year because I planned to add to it…”

He pulls out a large white square box before turning it to face me and pops it open. Inside, resting on a pillow of fluffy black velvet pillow. It’s a gorgeous medium twist charm bracelet with two charms. The first is the one I’ve been missing for months since I threw it at him. The second is a small masquerade mask. I feel my eyebrows furrow as my finger traces over the intricate piece of silver.

“Because our prom is masquerade-themed?”

He chuckles, taking it out of the box, and holds his hand out for my wrist. “Purely coincidental. It signifies the mask you wore.It’s something I don’t want you to forget because it takes a truly strong person to endure everything that you have in your life. It helped you shield your heart from any more hurt, keeping it intact until I came back.” His hand connects with mine, sending shivers up my forearm.

I’m thankful my sleeves are long, so he doesn’t notice the gaggle of goose bumps. He claps it on before locking our fingers together. “But I’m here, and it’s my job to protect it from now on.”

He smiles at me once more before turning me to face my aunt. She has a large camera covering her eyes, but the tears flowing from underneath and her shaking shoulders reveal what’s happening behind it.

“Mina.”

“Just smile, you silly girl.”

So I do. We take at least thirty-five pictures, in way too many poses, before finally, she comes from behind her shield, a blubbering mess. I wrap my arms around her, squeezing as I rock us back and forth, humming one of Blaze’s tunes that always calms me down.

She cries a little more before grabbing onto my face, but careful not to mess up my makeup. “I am so, so, so proud of you, mija.”

I can feel the prickling at the back of my eyes, threaten to mess up my mascara, so I kiss her cheek and smile. “Thank you. For everything.”

She shoos me away with her hand, grabbing a tissue from inside her shirt. “Hush hush. It’s my job. Now, here. Don’t forget your masks.”

Mina hands us our half-black masks. Mine is lace with hints of the same emerald green as my dress, while Spencer’s is matte. His phone rings just as Mina finishes securing it around my face.

It’s hard for me to grasp just one emotion that’s flitting through my body at this moment. But there is one I notice a little more because I haven’t felt it ever before.

Peace. There’s a serene aura swirling around me, almost lifting me off the ground. It’s knowing that life is full of shitty things, and even though I could handle it by myself, I don’t have to. Not anymore.

Mina spares me one last once-over before Spencer leans in, kissing her on the cheek. “We won’t be back late. Promise.”

She laughs. “Oh, I know. Or else I have those testiculos of yours and feed it to the dog next door.”

We walk outside to a rumbling black truck that vibrates my entire driveway. For a second, I wonder how in the hell I’m even going to get inside. As though Spencer can read my mind, he squeezes my hand and winks. “Easy stunt to a frequent flyer.”

My heart flutters, and I lean up to kiss him. Ever since regionals, he’s come to any practice and watched all of my recorded tapes. I have to force myself not to look at him at performances because it trips me up every time I do. He looks at me as if I’m the most magnificent thing he’s ever seen, and it melts my mind into mush.

One of the dark tinted windows rolls down, and a green-eyed devil appears. William has since taken an interest in being Spencer’s shadow, and it was surprisingly easy for us to forget our past encounters. Especially with him popping up almost every weekend and never misses a chance to ogle my aunt. Luckily though, he disappears when Amora’s around, unable to put up with her sharp tongue before getting worked up.

“Hey-a sugar. You look goooood. You too, Lily!”

Spencer rolls his eyes, and I laugh as we pile inside. Remy sits tucked away in the back seat. A phenomenal blood-red sleeveless dress that sparkles in the low light of the truck and clings to her like a second skin. “Remy, you look hot.”

Her small face turns nearly the same color as her dress, a timid smile sweeping across her face. “Thank you. You too, Lily. You guys look perfect.”

“Alright, alright. Let blow this popsicle stand. Score me some…” William clears his throat, looking at Remy in the rearview. “After I get you home, of course.”

She grins for a moment before hugging herself around the middle. I wait until we’ve pulled off, and the boys are talking about potato distribution before turning to her.

“Hey, so I read a lot of manga when I was younger and haven’t really had time for it lately. But with summer around the corner, I thought about opening my reading horizons and wondered if you could give me any recommendations.”

Remy’s face lights up like the fourth of July. Her hands wave around as she talks, and she goes off on at least four tangents, describing six different genres until I pick one. “Oh, I think I like the broken alpha one. That sounds interesting.”

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